


The Boyfriend Plan

by Hang_In_There_Baby_Crookshanks



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual scorbus, Friends to Lovers, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Burn, Sort of a Crack Fic, but also FEELINGS, but you don't have to play to understand, there will be references to Hogwarts Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23455876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hang_In_There_Baby_Crookshanks/pseuds/Hang_In_There_Baby_Crookshanks
Summary: Albus Potter wants a boyfriend. Having had a crush on his best friend for most of his teenage years, Albus decides it time to take action and get himself a man.Scorpius Malfoy is confused when he comes back to Hogwarts for his sixth year and is confronted with a completely new Albus. What's going on with his best friend? And why is he jealous of him getting close to someone else?The best laid plans often go awry. Can the two of them get it together to see what they are missing is right in front of them?
Relationships: Albus Severus Potter/Original Male Character(s), Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61





	1. Albus' Plan

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be eventual Scorbus but we've got a bit of a way to get there. It will involve children of characters in the Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery game but you don't need to have played the game to understand the reference to them as I'll fill in any relevant details as we go along. Thanks to Maddi for inspiring this story and I hope you enjoy!

Albus Potter sat on the floor of his bedroom pondering his upcoming term at Hogwarts. It was late in the evening on the 31st of August, the end of a long summer, and while he loved his family, he was ready to get back to school. 

Who would’ve thought that two years he’d be saying he wanted to go back to school? His fifth year had been much more subdued than the previous one, between studying for his OWLs and studying for his OWLs all his remaining time was spent studying for his OWLs.

He was quite glad the exams were over. 

His summer had been filled with lazy days with his family, anxiously waiting for his OWL results, cheering when they came and relaxing before he went back to the craziness of hundreds of teenagers shoved into a castle in the middle of nowhere. Now that he thought of it Hogwarts was really a terrible idea. All those hormones bouncing around the walls? No wonder the teachers were so irritable. 

He also spent most of the summer avoiding thinking about something, well someone, and developing a plan to get over that someone because it was very bloody clear that that someone wasn’t interested in him unless he’d suddenly grown curly hair and his surname was Granger-Weasley. 

Yes, he was avoiding his thoughts from drifting to Scorpius at all costs, which naturally meant he spent most of his summer thinking about Scorpius. 

Albus had worked out he was gay fairly early on in life. Uncle Ron would always tease his nieces and nephews and ask them if they liked anyone. James always replied with the latest addition to the Holyhead Harpies, while Albus, at a mere ten years of age, had replied that the Chudley Cannons beater Riley Knight had ‘very nice arms.’ 

There was a pause at the monthly Weasley family dinner when that had come out of Albus’ mouth, but just as quickly his dad came over and hugged him tight while his mum agreed that ‘his arms are rather lovely.’ 

In hindsight Albus realised how lucky he was. Wizarding families, especially pureblood ones, could be rather conservative, but his family had always accepted him wholeheartedly. 

When it came to school he was yet to really advertise his sexuality. James and Lily had thankfully kept their mouths shut about it. If someone had directly asked him he wouldn’t have lied but he wasn’t exactly flush with friends. He’d had a rather tumultuous start to Hogwarts and in the process of trying to maintain the one friendship he did have he hadn’t planned on coming out anytime soon. Besides with Scorpius willing to lick the floor beneath Rose’s feet he had had enough romantic drama for the two of them. 

To top off the fact that he was gay, he’d also gone and fallen for his closest, and only, friend. 

He was hopelessly in love with Scorpius Malfoy. 

Even declaring his love in his internal monologue was painful. Scorpius was his best mate, but that’s all that he saw when he looked at Albus. It was heartbreaking. After five years of suffering Albus Potter needed a plan to get over his best friend. Clearly things weren’t working in his favour by staying in the closet at school and he needed to change his tactics. He needed to finally get onto doing some of the amorous activities that normal sixteen year old boys would be participating in. 

He needed a boyfriend. Preferably a really hot boyfriend that he could do really hot things with. Yes, that would be ideal. 

Albus finished packing his trunk and hopped into bed, he wanted to be well rested for tomorrow where the first phase of his plan would begin. He needed all eyes on him as he entered the Hogwarts express. It was time to put the genes of his mother and father to use and get himself a boyfriend. 

And most importantly get Scorpius Malfoy out of his head. 

It was 10:50am on the 1st of September and the Potter family were rushing towards Platform 9 and ¾. Albus could hear the musings of muggles as he pushed his trolley deeper into the station heading towards the Hogwarts Express. His mum was hot on his heels, while his dad was helping Lily push her trolley quickly towards the platform. Albus felt slightly guilty about the situation as he was the one to blame for their tardiness. Part of his plan involved looking as hot as he possibly could on the first day of term, unfortunately he hadn’t realised how long it would take to make himself look hot resulting in his family running hideously late to get to the train. With his mums’ penchant for getting to places ridiculously early, he copped a glare from her the entire trip over. 

‘Hurry up Harry!’ His mother called over her shoulder. ‘We don’t have a bloody flying car they can use if they miss the train!’ His mum shot him another glare before picking up her pace towards the platform. 

The Potters’ burst through platforms 9 and 10 at exactly 10:55 at which point Lily gave her parents a quick hug and dashed off to meet her friends. Albus tried to do the same but was stopped by his parents. 

‘Albus,’ his Dad said hurriedly. ‘I don’t know what is going on with this,’ he paused, glanced Albus up and down and shook his head ‘- look of yours but you know you don’t have to change yourself for other people right?’ 

‘I have no idea what you are talking about.’ 

‘What your father means,’ his Mum chimed in, ‘is that people should like you as you are. If you want to change how you dress or behave that’s fine, but you shouldn’t be doing it for others. Just be yourself.’ 

Albus snorted. Both his parents were famous and charismatic. They had also prevented the world from being ruled by an egotistical, discriminatory madman. Simply put, it wasn’t hard for heroes to make friends. While Albus’ self-confidence had improved somewhat since his earlier years at Hogwarts, he wasn’t naïve enough to think that he was in any way popular. He needed a boyfriend and if he had to change himself a little to get one it wasn’t something he was ashamed of. 

‘You’d best go get on the train.’ His father and mother hugged him tight and he dashed off to find a compartment. Feeling slightly unsettled at his parents words he began to search the train for Scorpius. He was considering telling his best friend his plan in the hopes that he may be of some assistance. Maybe they could even come up with a plan together, Scorpius for Rose and Albus for currently unnamed future boyfriend. However that involved coming out to Scorpius and Albus wasn’t sure if he was ready to do that. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed, but he had kept his love a secret for so long that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to share that he was gay before he had a big fat cursh on someone else. 

He really couldn’t survive Hogwarts, or life in general, without Scorpius and he wasn’t going to put that in jeopardy. 

However in the middle of his musing he literally ran into his solution. 

Big green eyes, rather similar to his own looked down at him. A boy – no wait – a man smiled at him, concerned. 

‘Sorry mate,’ he said in a low voice. ‘You ok?’ 

Albus blinked up at him. 

Quite frankly this was the hottest man he had ever seen. 

‘Oh sorry!’ Albus’ voice came out oddly squeaky. ‘I didn’t see you there,’ he finished lamely, staring down at his hands. He was struggling to keep eye contact with such a glorious face. 

The man chuckled and held out a hand to lift Albus to his feet. 

‘Don’t worry about it.’ He smiled at him and swiftly lifted Albus to his feet. 

‘Ah well, sorry again!’ Albus was almost yelling at this point and promptly turned around and ran off in the other direction. 

Shit he was ridiculous! What was the point in putting all this effort into his appearance when he couldn’t back it up with a cool demeanour! He was going to have to prepare some lines for when he saw the man again. 

He came to a stop when out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of white blond hair sitting in a compartment, his nose in their new charms textbook. Albus sighed with relief and ducked inside to see his best friend. 

Scorpius looked up and grinned at him. Scorpius looked rather different from when they had met on this same train 6 years ago. In the last year he had grown quite a lot, to the point where he was almost the same height as his father. His chest had filled out and his eyes seemed to almost sparkle when he looked at Albus. 

‘Hi Albus,’ Scorpius’ smile faltered as he took in his appearance, ‘y-you look a bit different.’ He clutched his book tighter and held it over his chest. 

‘Hey Scorp,’ Albus tried out his new suave voice he’d practiced into his mirror at home. The one that he should’ve used on the guy he just ran into in the corridor. ‘Yeah I’m trying out a new look this year, what do you think?’ Albus did a swirl to show off his new clothes. 

His clothes had been specifically chosen to ‘bring out his strengths’ as his Aunt Angelina would often advise them when it came to fashion. He focused on his eyes as his most striking feature and had invested in a wardrobe with lots of green. That sneaky bastard of a sorting hat had done him a favour in the looks department by placing him in the house with the most flattering colours for his complexion. 

Albus had also cut his hair shorter on the sides and left it long on the top as was fashionable with the cool kids that would never give him the time of day. James had taken him into London to go to some fancy barber. They provided him a number of products that would keep his hair in place for days and had given him a lesson in how to apply them. 

The other thing Albus had wanted was a piercing, but James said he valued his life too much to let him get one. Albus already had plans to get one in Hogsmeade, surely dropping the name Potter would get him somewhere in that department. 

Albus had also decided that it was time to take advantage of his surname. He had spent years intimidated by the fact that he was the son of Harry Potter and not enough time enjoying all the benefits it offered him. Perhaps it was vain and rather Slytherin of him but Albus was sick of feeling like nobody's choice. He just wanted to be desirable for once in his life and if his last name played into that then he wasn’t ashamed to use it anymore. 

Scorpius paused for a few moments before nodding at Albus. 

‘Ah, yeah Albus you look great.’ 

Albus plonked down opposite him and grinned. 

‘Did you bring any food? I’m too scared to buy any off the Trolley lady and I’m starving.’ 

Scorpius grinned and reached into his bag. He pulled out a chocolate frog and chucked it at Albus. 

Albus beamed back and settled into his seat. He bit into his chocolate frog and thought about how good this year was going to be. He had his best friend, he’d found a potential target to redirect his affections towards and he was ready to take the school by storm. 

In hindsight the best laid plans often go awry, but Albus on that train had no idea of the emotional rollercoaster that was to occur.


	2. Uncertainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius ponders the 'new' Albus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback everyone! Little bit of an introduction to Scorpius in this chapter.

Scorpius Malfoy was more than a bit confused by his best friend. 

The entire train ride to Hogwarts Albus had acted rather odd. He wouldn’t say that he was a completely different person, but he’d been adjusted slightly. 

Well, adjusted quite a lot.

Albus had sat and made jokes with him, they’d eaten sweets and discussed their holidays’. Scorpius had caught up with Albus earlier in the summer but he’d seemed relatively normal then. He hadn’t had this new haircut or fancy clothes. He’d swapped his sweaters for dragonhide leather and his hair had a plethora of product in it. He was holding himself differently. A few times he’d go to slouch and then visibly correct himself, forcing his spine to straighten on the edge of the seat.

Even his voice was different, Albus’ voice had broken the year before, so unless he was suffering from some hormonal experiment gone wrong he was purposefully speaking in a deeper voice than was natural. Scorpius couldn’t work out why he would go to the extreme of forcing himself to speak this way, it sounded like he had gravel in his throat. 

The boys changed into their robes as they approached Hogwarts. Albus spent a good half an hour in the bathroom changing and doing god knows what. Scorpius wasn’t looking forward to sharing a bathroom with him this year if he continued like this. 

Eventually the train came to a halt and the two friends walked off the train and jumped in a carriage up to the school. They had been shocked in their fourth year to discover that the carriages weren’t actually magically operated, but rather were pulled by thestrals. Watching Karl die in their fourth year had been a life altering experience for them and Scorpius couldn’t help but reminisce when he saw the creatures leading them up to the school. 

Once they’d returned from their adventure, if you could call almost destroying the reality with everyone they love in it an adventure, they had become almost codependent on each other. When they saw the thestrals in their fourth year Scorpius felt as though he couldn’t breathe and Albus had to coax him into the carriage. They would often wake each other up with nightmares of Delphi and green lights and no wands. Sometimes, when he couldn’t sleep, Scorpius would sneak into Albus’ bed and they would sleep side by side. They never touched, but knowing that someone he trusted so much was close-by kept the nightmares at bay. 

Scorpius was jolted out of his thoughts as they reached their destination. He jumped down from the carriage and walked alongside Albus up to the great hall. 

‘You excited for the new year?’ Albus asked him. 

‘Well, considering we are going into our N.E.W.Ts and everyone says how horrible they are I can’t say I’m all that excited.’ Scorpius grimaced at the thought. ‘I’m glad to be back around people that aren’t my Dad though. I love him but the two of us together in the house can be rather lonely.’ 

Albus gave him a small smile but didn’t say anything as they entered the great hall. Scorpius truly did love his Dad, but living in a huge house with only the two of them was difficult. He had no idea why they hadn’t downsized when his Mum passed away. As much as he enjoyed being back at Hogwarts, he did worry about his Dad living in their house all alone. 

They sat quietly through the sorting and Albus didn’t seem keen on conversation as they ate. It wasn’t as though Albus was the most extroverted person he knew, but usually at the beginning of term he had plenty of things to talk about, the least of which was ranting about his family. However, Scorpius was left with silence from the boy next to him. 

Scorpius was a rather anxious person. He really didn’t enjoy bringing up any subject that could be taken poorly. He liked to stick to safe topics of conversation as much as he possibly could. One could argue it was the Slytherin in him, but he believed it was just common sense. 

However, when the situation was dire, Scorpius tended to blurt out exactly how he was feeling, and right now he was pretty bloody confused. 

Tact be damned. 

‘Albus what is going-’ 

‘Who is that?’ Albus pointed to a boy standing up at the Gryffindor table. He had bright green eyes like Albus’ and sandy blonde hair.

‘Congratulations to our new Head Boy Alexander McNully-Lee!’ McGongall called over the murmuring tables. ‘I know you will do the school proud.’ 

‘Huh,’ Albus snorted. ‘Looks like McGongall can read my mind now.’ 

‘He looks kind of familiar,’ Scorpius stated. ‘I think he plays quidditch?’ 

Albus, again, didn’t respond to him and continued to stare at Alex as he sat back down and appeared to be thanking other Gryffindors. 

Why would Albus care about some random Gryffindor? 

‘Albus!’ Scorpius elbowed him in the side. 

‘Ouch! That hurt Scorp!’ 

‘What’s going on with you? Did something happen before you got on the train? Are you worried about N.E.W.Ts? I know our O.W.Ls were stressful but at least we know we can actually pass our exams now-’ 

‘Scorp,’ Albus turned and looked directly into his eyes. ‘Everythings fine. I just have some new...ambitions for this year.’ 

Scorpius scrunched his face up in what he hoped was a concerned look. 

‘Albus. Please don’t tell me you are going to try and bring someone else back from the dead.’ 

‘Can you please not joke about that!’Albus yelped and several of the students around them turned to look at him.

‘Sorry,’ Scorpius blushed. ‘We should go back to the common room.’ 

‘You go ahead,’ Albus motioned for him to walk away for the table. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’ 

This was how Scorpius found himself alone in their dormitory a few hours later. Albus hadn’t returned and Scorpius was sitting in his bed trying to remain awake so he could say goodnight to his best friend. He was getting rather worried that Albus hadn’t come back after the feast, and while he really didn’t want to go to his head of house, he would consider it if Albus didn’t return soon. 

Scorpius was hoping to put Albus’ bizarre behaviour down to first day nerves but the way he was acting didn’t appear to be nerves at all. The idea that Albus had changed so drastically in a few weeks over the summer was baffling. Albus was his best friend and Scorpius would do anything to keep him as such. They knew each other better than anyone and they had shared experiences others could only dream of. Scorpius helped Albus open his eyes to the fact that he wasn’t the only person with pain and in return Albus had provided him with unrelenting support and friendship. As the world grew and changed around them the one certainty Scorpius had was that Albus would have his back. 

Scorpius dug his fingernails into his palms. He was getting anxious for no reason again. His brain insisted on going in spirals and imagining the worst case scenario. After his Mum and Delphi he grappled with the need to feel in control all the time. He didn’t know if he could cope if he lost another person. He felt his breathing becoming shallower and consciously had to take deeper breaths to slow it down. 

_You haven’t lost him yet you idiot,_ he thought angrily. His anxiety was driving him around the bend and it was only the first day of school! Everything was going to be fine. If Albus changed he could change with him. He would just need to learn to keep up. 

Exhausted from the hurricane in his head, Scorpius' head hit the pillow. He heard the door to their dormitory creek open and the sound of his best friend’s shoes tiptoeing to his bed. 

It was going to be fine. 


	3. Falling into Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus summons his confidence, has an important chat with a certain-blond-who-will-not-be-named and makes his first moves on Alex.

Albus strutted towards the Gryffindor table after dinner, his eyes glancing around looking for a flash of red hair. He saw his sister and her friends leaving the great hall and rushed over to them. 

‘Lily!’ He called out to her. 

She swung her head around, her hair flying into the eyes of the girl standing next to her, and saw Albus. She smiled slightly and waved him over. 

‘Hey Albus,’ she greeted him. ‘Missing me already?’ 

‘Sure,’ Albus agreed, not really listening to what she was saying. ‘Can we chat for a second?’ 

Before Lily had a chance to protest Albus yanked her up several flights of stairs and into an abandoned classroom that had come in handy when hiding from the idiots in his class. 

‘Albus, what are you doing?’ She rubbed at her arm where he’d grabbed her. 

‘I need you to tell me everything you know about Alexander McNully-Lee,’ he asked bluntly. 

‘Er, why?’ A puzzled expression settled on Lily’s face. 

‘Because he’s hot and I want to snog him.’ 

Lily’s eyebrows rose dramatically. 

‘Um, ok,’ she said dryly. ‘Well at least you’ve picked someone who could be interested in you.’ 

‘What do you mean?’ 

‘Well,’ Lily smirked at him. ‘I know that he had a rather traumatic breakup with his boyfriend at the end of last term. His boyfriend graduated and moved to Australia, shattering Alex’s heart five minutes before he took his portkey.’ 

‘Perfect!’ Albus cried. ‘Gay and single!’ 

‘I think he’s bisexual actually,’ Lily corrected him. ‘Anyways you better make haste if you are going to make your move because he is hot property. Especially now he’s Head Boy and considering who his Dad is.’ 

‘Who’s his Dad?’ Albus had begun mentally preparing himself for any competition that would come this way. He felt like he’d got the physical part of his plan relatively under control, but now it was time to build his confidence. It didn’t matter who Alex was related to. Albus was attractive and confident and he was going to get the seventh year to be his boyfriend. 

‘You really don’t pay attention to Quidditch do you,’ Lily sighed. ‘Murphy McNully is one of the best Quidditch strategists out there, he coached English to three Quidditch World Cup wins. Now he’s a famous commentator and he travels all over the place.’ 

Fuck 

Albus was going to have to learn about sport. He just really didn’t understand the big deal about Quidditch. It looked terrifying. His Dad had tried to teach him to fly when he was younger but whenever he got more than a metre off the ground he would start to freak out. In his opinion the only thing Quidditch was good for was the uniforms. 

Albus is vain. He’s fine with that. Besides if this person was going to compete with the strength of the feelings he felt for the-certain-blond-who-will-not-be-named they needed to be fit. 

‘I can do Quidditch,’ Albus told her defensively. ‘Mum probably worked with him when she played for England. That’s the perfect way in.’ 

‘Albus is everything ok?’ Lily bit down on her lip like she had when they’d reunited two years ago. ‘I just always assumed Scorpius and you-’ 

‘He likes Rose, Lily.’ Albus cut her off quickly. ‘I need to move on and Alex seems great.’ 

‘You’ve always gone big.’ Lily smiled softly. ‘Let me know if I can help.’ 

‘And you’re always the one I will come to if I need information,’ Albus chuckled. ‘I’m sure you’ll be joining Mum at the Prophet one of these days.’ 

Albus wished Lily goodnight and snuck back down to the dungeons. The rest of the boys in his dorm were asleep by the time he had arrived so he quietly changed into his pyjamas and went to bed. His head full of newly gathered gossip and scheming about how to get Alex. 

* * *

  
  


The following morning saw Albus and Scorpius sitting awkwardly next to each other at the Slytherin table. Apart from exchanging pleasantries, the two ate in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other. 

Professor Greene came along once they had finished eating and handed out their timetables. Professor Greene was head of Slytherin house but in Albus’ opinion the man had not shown a single Slytherin quality in the entire time he’d known him. He stumbled through their transfiguration lessons, barely controlling the class and he spent more of the lessons trying to get the students to concentrate than teaching. The man was a prodigy but he’d done fuck all to help Albus with everything he’d faced at Hogwarts, so his respect for the man was limited. 

His only redeeming feature was that he was very easy on the eyes. The man clearly worked out. However, even his biceps bulging through his robes could not make up for his atrocious performance as both a teacher and head of house.

‘Albus,’ Professor Greene paused when he handed him his timetable. ‘I noticed you’re taking Care of Magical Creatures.’ 

Albus nodded in confirmation. 

‘Well there isn’t enough of you to form a sixth year class so you will be joining the seventh years,’ Professor Greene told him. 

Albus nodded curtly again and Professor Greene continued passing out timetables. He internally called on every bit of Potter luck that Alex was in that class. 

Deciding that this awkwardness with Scorpius had dragged on way too long Albus turned to him. 

‘Look, Scorp, I’m sorry about last night I shouldn’t have snapped with you,’ Albus genuinely had not intended to speak to him that way but even two years later he wasn’t ready for jokes about Delphi. 

‘Where were you last night?’ Scorpius asked him, crossing his arms across his chest defensively. 

‘Talking to Lily.’ Scorpius raised his eyebrow at him in disbelief. ‘It’s true, you can ask her. I was trying to get more information about Alex McNully-Lee.’ 

‘The new head boy?’ Scorpius unfolded his arms but he still appeared puzzled. ‘What’s sparked your interest in him?’ 

‘Scorpius,’ Albus began seriously. He figured this was as good a time as any to be candid about his plan. ‘It’s not a big deal but I sort of have to tell you something about me.’ 

‘What is it?’ Scorpius furrowed his brow and scooted closer to him. 

Albus paused for a moment and took a deep breath. He knew logically that Scorpius wouldn’t care that he was gay, but he was concerned that Scorpius would think he’d been keeping secrets from him. It wasn’t that he was uncertain about his sexuality but it was something he needed to be secure with in private before he shared it with anyone outside his family. He knew this was the beginning of opening himself up to judgement from his peers, but he felt at almost seventeen he had developed the confidence in himself that he could bounce back from the negativity. 

‘I’m gay.’ 

Scorpius paused for a moment and then grinned at him. 

‘That’s all?’ 

‘You’re not mad I didn’t tell you?’ Albus felt the words spewing out of his mouth and couldn’t hold the anxiety in. ‘I told my family when I was a kid but I just wasn’t ready for everyone here to know about it but I think I am now.’ Albus tried to sound more confident but he felt like he was under a detection charm, goose bumping rising up and down his skin. 

‘It’s really ok Albus,’ Scorpius looped an arm around his shoulders. ‘So I’m guessing your interest Alex is somehow related to this,’ he asked him presumptively. 

‘You could say something like that,’ Albus bantered back. ‘He flies for both teams, if you know what I’m saying. I really think this is the year I want to be more open with myself and find someone to snog.’ 

Scorpius chuckled and tightened his grip on Albus’ shoulder causing Albus’ heart to clench in his chest. He needed to get onto Alex and fast. 

‘If you need any help, as your best friend, I would be more than happy to assist. Merlin knows you’ve helped me enough with Rose over the years.’ 

Ah 

His very straight friend should not be causing his heart to clench. 

‘Ha!’ Albus barked out a laugh. ‘We better get going.’ 

The two of them swung their legs over the bench and headed off to class. 

* * *

By the time Albus trudged down to the edge of the forest for Care of Magical Creatures he was preparing himself for all the work he would have to begin tonight. All of his Professors had droned on about how sixth year would put them through rigorous coursework as they had chosen to continue on with advanced studies of the classes they had chosen.

As he approached the class he was suddenly jolted back into the enthusiasm he had acquired after speaking with Lily. Amongst the students he could see the back of a tall figure with sandy hair and an arse Albus would be dreaming about for a long time. 

Alex. 

Albus had a feeling this class was about to become his favourite. 

As the class began Albus strategically positioned himself so he was able to work in the same group as Alex. Professor Grubbly-Plank had told the class to split off into groups of four. Alex and his friends had taken pity on Albus when the other sixth years formed their own group without him. 

‘Hey!’ Alex took a couple of steps towards him. ‘You can come join us.’ 

Albus concentrated on gliding over to them. Trying to appear keen but not creepily enthusiastic. 

‘It’s Albus right?’ Alex’s silky voice baritone voice asked him. ‘I’m Alex and this is Sinead and Perseus.’ 

Sinead waved at him in greeting while Perseus elbowed Alex in the ribs. 

‘For the millionth time, it’s Percy you wanker.’ He told Alex sternly while the latter rubbed his arm. 

The group moved off to begin their work reviewing Porlocks. For the first time of the day Albus found himself in a class with not much to do as they quickly repaired the straw habitats for the creatures they had been assigned. Chatter broke out within the groups and Albus summoned his confidence and took his chance to talk to Alex. 

‘So, Head Boy huh?’ 

‘I promise you I won’t be on your arse about rules,’ Alex chuckled. ‘Merlin knows I’ve caused McGonagall enough mischief over the years.’ 

‘I can relate,’ Albus snickered in response. ‘But you must’ve done something right to get Head Boy.’ 

‘Charmed my way into it I suppose,’ Alex flashed him a cheeky grin. ‘Honestly I was expecting to be Quidditch Captain and was surprised with Head Boy. My parents said they were thrilled but I still think my Dad would’ve preferred the quidditch prestige.’ 

‘I’m not totally across Quidditch,’ Albus confessed. ‘But I’ve heard your Dad is something of a legend.’ 

‘Not as much as your Mum!’ Alex’s eyes widened in what Albus thought was excitement. ‘I met her once at a World Cup and was embarrassingly starstruck.’ 

‘Well one time I met Riley Knight and I think I almost fainted,’ Albus’ mouth was moving of its own accord again. Why did he keep doing this? 

‘His arms are to die for!’ Alex’s awestruck look remained plastered to his face. ‘His beauty can be appreciated by even a non-Quidditch fan I see.’ 

Albus hoped Alex would be talking about him this way some day. 

Their conversation continued throughout class. Albus pulled out everything he knew about Quidditch before exhausting his knowledge and changing the subject to their classes. Like Albus, Alex loved to work outside with creatures. He told Albus it was a passion he shared with his father and his dad ran the Owl Emporium in Diagon Alley so he could remain in London while his other father was away with quidditch. 

They were so swept up in their conversation that they didn’t notice the class pack up. They rushed to gather their things and headed back up to the castle. 

‘Well,’ Alex said once they were inside. ‘I think you’ll fit right into our class. See you later Albus.’ Albus was pretty sure he winked at him before walking up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. 

Albus couldn’t believe his luck. The hot boy was actually nice? And they had so much in common? And he winked at him! Albus was eighty percent sure he hadn’t imagined the wink. 

His plan was going perfectly. 

  
  
  
  


If only Scorpius’ year had started off so well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Back to Scorpius' POV next chapter.


End file.
